Getting ready to nose dive totally. Here in NC we just joined the list of states that have banned dine-in service entirely. Curbside or delivery only, after 5PM today.
And Ontario.
The state of the restaurant industry
81–90 of 591 posts
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even delivered groceries are significantly cheaper than eating out. That difference is mostly the income of restaurant workers.
If there's a silver lining, it's that takeout is higher margin for restaurants and I'm sure takeout revenue is spiking during city shutdowns.
In today’s world Uber eats, Grubhub, etc take 30% of the gross on an order. No way it’s more profitable than having people in house buying alcohol.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#83The government has talked about bailouts for various industries from airlines, to cruise ships, to shale companies. But almost every sector of the US economy is going to be hit by this and I have no idea how we are going to react. Will there be a restaurant bailout? What would that even look like? It is much easier to work on bailing out a handful of airlines but how do you handle it for literally thousands of small…
SBA just announced a program for loans up to $2M at 3.75% to make payroll
The problem with loans are you have to repay them. Giving out loans as a social safety net is a cruel joke. It just makes people worse off in the long run.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#84Not to trivialize the numbers, but people still have to eat, so these dollars are largely being re-allocated elsewhere, primarily to takeout, food delivery, and grocery stores. Other sectors that are service-based represent real net loss in GDP.
Restaurants will shutter, and hourly workers dependent on tips will majorly suffer. Even the economic stimulus mentioned today won’t go to all the immigrant labor that runs many (most?) kitchens.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#85Perhaps US eat-out culture will die, and those who worked those jobs will just have to find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy.
Remarkable how quickly you were able to dehumanize the economic impact on millions of lives and yet simultaneously anthropomorphize the “economy”. A single sentence.
The restaurant industry is brittle and consolidating, and the the American middle class might not be strong enough to support it anymore. Recent events just magnify the weaknesses of the existing system.
We could talk about things like the expansion of government programs, or we could talk about your theory of how I'm stripping people's humanities away. You would also presume quite poorly if you thought I haven't worked in the food industry.
If you have something interesting to offer to the scenario of collapsing American restaurants, go ahead. Such as more discussion on dehumanization.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#86I realise this is an entirely irrelevant point, but any ideas why Germany was doing so well up until this crisis?
My guess is that the have very few restaurants in Germany, so it's just noise.
It also seems to be year over year data and February last year was pretty warm, potentially driving more people outside instead of into restaurants compared to the relatively rainy month we just had.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#87The government has talked about bailouts for various industries from airlines, to cruise ships, to shale companies. But almost every sector of the US economy is going to be hit by this and I have no idea how we are going to react. Will there be a restaurant bailout? What would that even look like? It is much easier to work on bailing out a handful of airlines but how do you handle it for literally thousands of small…
What they need to do is provide everyone with restaurant vouchers paid for by the government. Then we can all have a big meal after this is over and keep our favourite eateries alive.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#88I have a friend that owns a restaurant, doesn't sell gift cards online and no idea how to do.
What's the fastest way to set up a Gift Card program?
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#89Perhaps US eat-out culture will die, and those who worked those jobs will just have to find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy.
That's not exactly a realistic outlook on what will ultimately be a temporary situation.
It all depends on how long it is temporary. Current predictions are 2-3 months, which I think it is already too much time for most restaurants.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#90I noticed that the global line and the US line are pretty much within 1% of each other the entire time. So really this is US data, since it looks like almost all of their restaurants are in the US. I wouldn't put much stock in the other countries. That being said, this data certainly shows a devastating trend for the restaurant industry.
OT is majority US, but UK/JP/MX/CA are also big markets for them and I wouldn't discount that data.
Source: I'm a former OT employee :]